The stock market is way up – and that’s terrible news for us dividend investors. Yields haven’t been this low in decades!

The S&P 500 pays a measly 1.9% today. If you have a million dollar portfolio, that’s a lousy $19,000 per year in income. Pathetic.

In a moment, we’ll discuss how to get you a 400%+ raise and earn an 8% yield instead of 1.9%. That’s $80,000 in passive income on a million bucks, or $40,000 annually on $500K. But first, let me show you the logical – but wrong – assumption that most mainstream dividend investors make.

They look at a “consumer staple” like General Mills (GIS), see it paying a “generous” 3.3%, and think it’s a good buy. Problem is, anyone who bought this “safe” stock little more than a year ago has suffered an 12.8% price decline:

The “first level” investors are relying on the wrong chart for investment income.

For example, check out these two charts. Which would you rather rely on for dividend income?

Of course the chart on the right. It’s increased steadily for the past 10 years with no blips. It represents the dividends paid by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), while its cardiac companion on the left is the price of JNJ’s stock over the same period.

Problem is, you’re probably buying the manic chart on the left today. Which means you’re exposing yourself to short-term price risk to collect a 2.4% dividend.

There are two issues with this approach. First, you’re putting your retirement portfolio in the way of a potential stock market crash (which will take down JNJ too) in order to collect the income it pays investors. Which brings me to the second – and much bigger – problem.

You’re risking a lot for a stingy 2.4%!

Even if you buy $1 million worth of JNJ, you’re only collecting $24,000 in income annually. That’s less than your neighborhood Starbucks barista earns.

How about these two charts – which would you rather own?

The chart on the left is the stock price of Microsoft (MSFT) for the past decade. Investors who bought and held the entire time did fine, of course – and also enjoyed the steady dividend growth on the right. In fact, they’re now earning a 6.5% yield on their initial investment – nice.

But what if you didn’t buy Microsoft a decade ago? Then you’re faced with the same dilemma on where to put your “new money” to work for income. After all, MSFT only pays a 1.9% yield today.

And Other Blue Chips Aren’t Any Better

It’s not a matter of aristocrat-picking prowess. Let’s take four more blue chip “dividend aristocrats” – Kimberly-Clark (KMB), McDonald’s (MCD), Sysco (SYY) and Wal-Mart (WMT). Their best growth days are behind them, though you’d never know it looking at their valuations. Here are their sales and dividend growth over the past five years, along with their current price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios and paltry yields:

Sadly this 4-stock aristocrat portfolio only pays an average 2.6% yield today – which means a $1 million portfolio will only earn you $26,000 in dividend income annually invested in these shares. Let me repeat.

A $1 million portfolio will only earn you $26,000 in dividend income annually invested in these shares.

A million bucks gets you Bernie Sanders’ $15 minimum wage in retirement. How sad.

Meanwhile dividend growth isn’t going to save the day, either. Over the past decade, these four companies have boosted their payout ratios (the percentage of earnings they pay as dividends) to support their aristocrat status:

Booming Payout Ratios – A Bad Bull Market

The solution that financial advisors pitch is a “4% withdrawal rate”. These guys (who have not successfully retired yet themselves, by the way) say that you should supplement your dividend income by withdrawing 4% or so annually from your capital basis. Sounds good on paper but it’s often bad news in reality due to some disastrous market math.

The 4% Withdrawal Flaw is

Reverse Dollar Cost Averaging

Here’s the fatal flaw with the 4% annual withdrawal strategy for retirement. Every few years, you’re faced with a chart that looks like this:

You’re forced to withdraw money at exactly the wrong time. The dividend is fine, but you need to sell shares for additional income. Remember the benefits of dollar cost averaging that built your retirement portfolio? This is the same phenomenon, but in reverse!

With a 4% withdrawal portfolio, you sell more shares of stock when prices are low, and less when prices are high. Not good – it’s actually a recipe for running out of money.

If you’re worried about a stock market pullback or crash – and I don’t blame you with equities near record-high valuations – then we need to transition your portfolio away from the casino of stock prices into the steady staircase of dividends.

Look, it’s not your fault that the Fed crushed savers by lowering interest rates to the basement. If you were preparing for retirement in any normal era, you’d have some legitimate options in fixed income.

But this is the “new normal” where rates may be slowly on the rise, but they’re likely to be low for a long time. So it’s Wall Street to the rescue with its magic 4% rule – the notion that you can and should draw down a portion of your portfolio every year after you retire. A recipe for disaster.

The secure solution? Step beyond Wall Street’s “blue chip BS ” and create a portfolio that can actually generate meaningful income. Ditch the aristocrats that pay you like you’re making lattes for a living, and secure yourself a 2-3X pay raise while still keeping your capital intact to boot.

The 8% “No Withdrawal”

Retirement Portfolio

The proper solution is one you’ve probably thought of – a no withdrawal portfolio that relies entirely on dividend income and leaves your principal 100% intact. But again, the dilemma is that a million bucks in most dividend aristocrats won’t get you enough dividend income to live off of – unless you have significant capital.

Alternative retirement products such as single premium immediate annuities (SPIAs) can help exchange capital for income streams – but in most cases you are giving up your principal while you are charged outrageous fees. These vehicles usually don’t account for cost of living increases. And you’re trading in your legacy – and your grandchildren’s inheritance.

“Dividend income sounds great,” you’re probably thinking. “But don’t stocks only pay gaudy yields like these at the depths of bear markets?”

That’s partially true – blue chips tend to only pay yields of 5% or better near secular stock market bottoms. However there are three other stock market vehicles available today that pay reliable yields of 6%, 7% and even 8% or higher.

I’m talking about investment vehicles that have market caps between $1 billion and $3 billion. They’re plenty liquid enough for you and me, but not for the big institutional investors that hold two-thirds of all shares in public stocks. Combined they make up only a fraction of the stock market’s total capitalization – so they don’t get much coverage from the financial media.

And that makes these ignored corners of the financial markets ideal places for us to search for high yields. Now like any sectors there are good investments and bad investments, of course. So let’s talk about these areas – and how to employ a contrarian approach to find the best values, which I define as secure meaningful yields with price stability and even 7-15% upside in many cases.

In a moment, I’m going to show you how to earn a passive $40,000 on a half-million… $80,000 on a million… and $100,000+ annually on anything higher. Plus, you won’t even have to tap your initial capital or “draw down” any of your valuable principal. I’ll even give you the specifics on stock names and tickers to buy. But first, a bit about myself.

My name is Brett Owens and I’m an unabashed dividend investor. Ever since my days at Cornell University and all through my years as a startup founder in Silicon Valley, I’ve hunted down safe, stable, meaningful yields.

For the last 10 years, I’ve been investing my startup profits and finding 6%, 7%, even 8%+ dividends with plenty of double-digit gains along the way. In recent years, I started writing about the methods I use to generate these high levels of income.

Today I serve as Chief Investment Strategist for The Contrarian Income Report – a publication that uncovers secure, high yielding investments for thousands of investors. Since inception my subscribers have doubled up the S&P 500 with annualized gains of 20%, largely thanks to an 8% average yield!

Of course not all high yield investments are buys. Some vehicles are nothing more than dividend traps, paying high stated yields that are simply not sustainable.

But if you know how to navigate the space, you can earn the types of returns and collect the big dividends that my subscribers do – which means you may never have to tap into your retirement capital to pay your bills.

Now let’s talk about three ignored corners of the financial market I want to introduce you to for secure 8% income…

“No Withdrawal” Stealth Play #1

Closed-End Funds

As I mentioned earlier, if you feel trapped “grinding out” dividend income with classic 3% or 4% payers, you can double your payouts (or better) immediately by moving to closed-end funds, or CEFs. In fact, you can often make the switch without actually switching investments.

For example, American International Group’s (AIG) investors can potentially trade in their 2% dividend yields for the Gabelli Dividend & Income Trust Fund’s (GDV) 5.6% payout. AIG is GDV’s largest holding amongst a list of blue chip payers plus dividend growers like Wells Fargo (WFC) and Verizon (VZ).

Superstar money manager Mario Gabelli runs his namesake GDV. He combines his yields with growth and leverage to create his outsized yield – which he delivers investors every month, to boot.

Sounds like a sweet deal, right? His investors get the benefit of a legendary money mind along with his access to ideas and cheap money.

And there are funds that deliver even more “alpha” than GDV – which means they pay more, and offer more potential upside. I’ll highlight three of my favorite plays in this space in a moment.

It is bizarre that many first-level investors spent much of 2016 and 2017 running away from closed-end funds, claiming that their “free leverage lunch” is nearing an end with higher rates on the horizon. Plus, they say these funds are going to see more competition from other fixed income assets looking increasingly attractive, making them less so.

The result? Many funds are selling at bargain prices today thanks to the headline worry that higher rates hurt CEFs. But that’s just not true.

Libor – the rate CEFs borrow money at – is tied closely to the Fed funds rate. And the last time the Fed hiked its significantly, CEFs did just fine.

In June 2004, Fed chair Alan Greenspan began boosting rates from then-historic lows. Over a two-year period, he increased the federal funds rate from 1% to 5.25%. An earthquake.

How’d CEFs perform? Three prominent funds – Gabelli’s along with the Calamos Strategic Total Return (CSQ) and the Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund (EVV) – all outperformed the market during this 2-year span!

Higher Rates No Problem for Top Closed-Ends 2004-06

And wait ‘til you see the three closed-end picks I have for you. These “slam dunk” income plays pay 8.5%, 8.7% and even 8.9% dividends.

Plus, they trade at steep discounts to their net asset value (NAV) today. Which means they’re perfect for your retirement portfolio because your downside risk is minimal. Even if the market takes a tumble, these top-notch funds will simply trade flat … and we’ll enjoy those 8.5% to 8.9% yields.

Most likely, they’ll jump 10% to close the “free money” discount … and we’ll still collect those fat dividends!

I’ll share the details on my three favorite CEFs in a minute – but let’s get into our next strategy.

“No Withdrawal” Stealth Play #2

Preferred Shares

Not familiar with preferred shares? You’re not alone – most investors only consider “common” shares of stock when they look for income. These are the shares in a company you receive when you place an order with your broker – like the blue chips we discussed that pay just 2.6% today.

Last year, Wells Fargo (WFC) announced plans to offer $1 billion in preferreds with a 6% perpetual coupon. That’s more than double the stock’s current yield. If you’re looking for income, and you believe that Wells Fargo is in good financial shape, then the preferreds will pay you 6% as long as you own them.

Now I’m not recommending ETFs like the PowerShares Preferred Portfolio (PGX) and the iShares S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index Fund (PFF). I believe they expose investors to unnecessary credit risk. The only way you lose with this vehicle is by giving your money to a driver who crashes your car. But the S&P 500 and NASDAQ are large enough that there’s usually a company financially crashing into a brick wall at any moment in time.

That’s why I recommend moving past a broad-based ETF in favor of a fund with an active manager working for you.

And I have two favorites today that pay 7% and 7.3% respectively. Both are great bargains today. Headline-driven investors had worried that rising rates would hurt their portfolios, so they mistakenly sold these high quality issues.

Their worries were misguided – not only because their rising rate worries were overblown, but also because these two funds hold the majority of their bonds in floating rate issues anyway. This means that even if interest rates do rise, these coupons will adjust upwards. And the current “low rates for longer” environment means that preferred shares look great with respect to most other fixed income options.

I’ve got the details on my favorite investment vehicle in a special report that I prepared for you about preferred shares. I’ll show you how to get your copy of my analysis in a minute – right after we talk about the third pillar of my contrarian income strategy.

“No Withdrawal” Stealth Play #3

Recession-Proof REITs

The IRS lets real estate investment trusts, or REITs, avoid paying income taxes if they pay out most of their earnings to shareholders. As a result these firms tend to collect rent checks, pay their bills and send most of the rest to us as a dividend.

The result is higher payouts than the broader market. The Vanguard REIT Index ETF (VNQ) pays 6.4% today, more than double the S&P 500 (which it’s handily beaten in its 13 years since inception):

REITs are finally starting to get the respect they deserve – Standard & Poor’s recently gave REITs their own sector for the first time.

Which means there’s a lot of money chasing REITs now. Up to $100 billion by some Wall Street estimates.

But the first wave of capital is blindly piling into the lone ETF in the space according to Barron’s. Reason being, most of these “first-level” investors and money managers don’t know the individual names that well.

As a result, they’re piling into the blue chips owned by this ETF and missing the true hidden dividend gems in the space. Soon enough they’ll smarten up and start throwing their billions into the real values – like my favorite REIT which just raised its dividend again by 4% over last quarter’s payout. This marks the 22nd consecutive quarterly dividend hike for the firm:

It pays a 9.7% yield today – but that’s actually a 10.1% forward yield when you consider we’re going to see four more dividend increases over the next year. And the stock is trading for 8-times funds from operations (FFO). Pretty cheap.

However I expect its valuation and stock price will rise by 20% over the next 12 months as more money comes stampeding into the REIT sector – which makes right now the best time to buy and secure a 10.1% forward yield.

Same for another REIT favorite of mine, a 7.2% payer backed by an unstoppable demographic trend that will deliver growing dividends for the next 30 years.

Its founder Ed Aldag admitted that, fourteen years ago, he had “zero assets, a dream, and a business plan.”

Well his dream and plan were plenty – Ed parlayed them into $6.7 billion in assets!

Ed’s investors have enjoyed 68% total returns over the last five years (with much of that coming back as cash dividends.) And right now is actually a better time than ever to “bet on Ed” because his growing base of assets is generating higher and higher cash flows, powering an accelerating dividend:

I love dividend increases because they are proof that management is actually making more money, so can afford to pay us shareholders more. And an accelerating payout is a flat out cry for help!

Any management team that raises its dividend faster and faster is clearly making more money than it knows what to do with. This usually happens when it achieves a tipping point where its machine no longer requires as much reinvestment to continue growing. So leadership says: “Please, take a bigger raise, shareholders.”

Meanwhile investors and money managers who spot dividend accelerators lose their minds because, in theory, there is no valuation too high for a company that is increasing its dividend at an accelerating rate. Their spreadsheets literally break, and they buy the stock in a frenzy.

Ed’s stock should be owned by any serious dividend investor for three simple reasons:

It’s recession-proof.

It yields a fat (and secure) 7.2%.

Its dividend increases are actually accelerating.

Now let’s discuss how you can get a hold of my complete No Withdrawal Portfolio research today, along with stock names, tickers and buy prices.

An Average 8% Yield, With Upside

It’s only a matter of time before other investors ditch their paltry 3% and 4% payers and find their way over to these “slam dunk” income plays, so the time to buy is now, while they still trade at deep discounts to NAV and FFO.

That’s why I’ve prepared three in-depth guides, outlining each of the strategies I mentioned above…

Special Report #1

The first is called the “Monthly Dividend Superstars: 8% Yields With 10% Upside.”

Inside you’ll find the ticker symbol, my buy-up-to price and in-depth backstory on each of my three favorite CEFs, including:

An 8.7% payer trading at a bizarre 5.3% discount to NAV,

The brainchild of the one of the top fund managers on the planet that pays 8.9%,

And the 8.5% payer that not 1 in 1,000 people even know about.

Special Report #2

The second guide is called Preferred Shares: Looking Past Common Dividends for 7% Income.

Inside you’ll find my favorite fund for investing in preferred shares, along with its management profiles and investing strategies.

The fund pays a rock-solid 7% today. The high yield is great, but its best quality may be its lack of correlation with the broader stock market. The shares this fund owns are preferred in every sense of the world – meaning it gets paid its fat dividends no matter what the broader market does.

Special Report #3

Finally your third guide, Recession Proof REITs: 2 Plays With 8.4% Yields and 25% Upside, will discuss my two favorite REITs. With average annual dividends of 8.4%, both raise their payouts regularly and both have easy 25% upside from here. They include:

The 7.2% payer that’s delivered an 68% total return in recent years and shows no sign of slowing down.

The 9.7% dividend machine that’s raised its dividend the last 22 quarters in a row.

In each report you’ll get the rationale behind where, why and how to profit. In short, everything you need to know about these stocks before you invest a single penny.

How to Get All 3 Reports Absolutely Free

To access all three reports, Monthly Dividend Superstars, Preferred Shares and Recession Proof REITs at no cost whatsoever, I simply ask that you take a risk-free trial of my research service, Contrarian Income Report.

I created Contrarian Income Report to help self-directed investors uncover overlooked and under-appreciated income plays before Wall Street and the mainstream herd bid them up.

Every new investment I recommend pays 6% or better, including four funds in our portfolio that each deliver over 9% income right now.

As I write this, my seven favorite “best buys” are paying between 7.8% and 10% and our entire portfolio sports an average yield of nearly 8%!

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 pays a meager 1.9% on average, and the 10-year Treasury bond barely 2.9%. Most investors could double – or even triple – their income overnight without taking heart-stopping risks!

But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what some of my subscribers have to say about these recommendations:

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“Just wanted to write and let you know I’m very pleased with my subscription to your services… Keep up the good work! I sleep better at night not worrying about the daily gyrations of the market. I’m very glad I found your service.”

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But that’s not all, because…

Safe Yields Are Only the Beginning

In addition to my favorite REITs with 8.4% average yields, the closed-end funds paying up to 8.9%, and the 7% Preferreds, your risk-free trial includes a whole lot more…

You’ll have immediate access to all of the picks in the members-only portfolio, including my exact buy & sell recommendations and buy-under prices.

Get new income investing ideas on stocks I’ve been watching and analysis of major market events delivered straight to your inbox every single week.

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Day or night, you can always log into our password protected members-only website to access all of our resources, archives, special reports and the full portfolio.

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Now, the regular member price to join Contrarian Income Report is $99 per year.

With everything that’s included I’m sure you’ll agree it’s well worth the cost. Heck, the three reports you’ll get absolutely free are worth three times that much.

And even a small position in any one of the picks mentioned above will easily cover that in just the first few months.

Imagine 7%, 8%, even 9% dividends rolling in from these picks, and then watching them appreciate as mainstream investors realize what they’ve been missing and inevitably pile back in.

But it’s important that I earn your trust and you have the chance to see exactly how profitable this service can be.

So I’ve arranged for a small number of investors to take 60% off the regular price and try out Contrarian Income Report for just $39.

And to ensure you have no reason not to try this service out, I’m going to include two more bonus reports just for giving it a shot…

Bonus #1: The Dirty Dozen: 12 Dividend Stocks to Sell Now

I come across countless opportunities begging for your investment dollars every single day. Sadly, many of the juiciest dividends are ticking time bombs just waiting to go off.

This report reveals the 12 biggest potential disasters on my watchlist, including some of the most popular names on the street. Can you guess…

… the iconic retailer paying 5.7% while operations are in terminal decline?

… the supposedly stable utility company whose coal and nuclear plants have quietly lost nearly 90% of their value in recent years?

… the telecom that pays a mouthwatering double-digit yield, while its top line erodes and profits stagnate?

Make sure you’re not holding any of these losers when they finally make the decision to cut payouts and share prices plummet!

Many super-investors agree that you’ll never beat the market by following the herd. They tout the virtues of contrary thinking, but I’ve yet to hear any one of them specifically outline how they go about finding under-appreciated stocks with low valuations.

And that’s exactly what you’ll get with this step-by-step contrarian guide.

For the past decade I’ve been refining a system that identifies and selects the top contrarian candidates for investment. By following these steps, you’ll be able to find the types of stocks that Warren Buffett, George Soros, Howard Marks and many other greats only wish they could invest in.

Now, there’s just one more thing I’d like to include…

Our Ironclad 100% Money-Back Guarantee

I’m so confident you’ll enjoy (and profit from) this service that I’m going to give you 60 days to try Contrarian Income Report absolutely risk-free.

Here’s how it works…

Start your membership today. Download your special reports, read the latest issue and start tracking a few winners in the portfolio that catch your interest.

Then, sit back and enjoy the next couple of issues of Contrarian Income Report, check out my weekly column and all of the other member benefits.

If, after nearly 2 months, you don’t feel the advice has more than covered your cost, or if it’s just not right for you, simply let me know and I’ll issue a full refund.

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In the coming months, many investors will struggle to get by on their paltry 2% and 3% payers, holding their breath for the next signal from Washington on the state of the economy, fearful of what might happen in China & Europe.

But my Contrarian Income Report readers and I will rest easy thanks to our super-safe “No Withdrawal” portfolio and enjoy 8% dividends with 10-20% gains (or more!) over next 12 months.

Are you going to join us?

Yours in profits,

Brett Owens

Chief Investment Strategist

Contrarian Income Report

P.S. Since my recommendations are contrary to prevailing popular beliefs, they have a habit of rallying quickly as soon as the mainstream herd catches on to what they’ve been missing. I encourage you to get started right now so that you can get in at a good price!

P.P.S. Remember, your risk-free membership comes with the names and full details on my top 3 closed-end funds paying up to 8.9%, average dividends of 8.4% from my top REIT plays, and the Preferred fund that will hand you 7%. Even a small position in any one of these picks will easily cover a full year’s membership… most likely before your 60 day trial even ends!